Field Trips
Explore, learn, and experience Spartanburg’s history. SCHA field trips support SC state academic standards in Social Studies and English Language Arts. These programs are available for a variety of groups from students to Senior Adults and are modified to serve any audience.
Historic Walnut Grove Plantation
Walnut Grove Plantation recounts how free and enslaved people settled the South Carolina Backcountry, fought for independence, and built a new nation.
Field trips typically consist of a guided tour, grounds exploration, a living history activity and a picnic lunch in our covered pavilion. We can tailor the experience to your group.
Guided tours will take you through the doctor’s office, kitchen cabin and Rocky Spring Academy where you will learn about the history of the Moore Family, their settlement of the South Carolina Backcountry, the family involvement in the Revolutionary War and everyday life during Colonial times.
Grounds exploration includes visiting the dry cellar, blacksmith forge, barn, smokehouse, wheat house, historic gardens, family cemetery and newly updated nature trail.
Tours will be adapted for the age of the students and their South Carolina Social Studies Standards.
The manor house is currently under restoration and closed to the public. However, many artifacts have been temporarily placed in new locations and the tour is just as comprehensive as before and includes some new information.
Self-Guided Tour: $3 per student
Full Guided Tour: $5 per student
Guided Tour with Living History Activity: $8 per student
Adult chaperones, $6 each; School employees, FREE
Groups of 10 to 75 students per day (contact us for larger groups lauren@spartanburghistory.org )
Picnic shelter and child-friendly gift shop on site.
Requests should be submitted a minimum of two weeks, preferably 1 month in advance.
The Seay House
The Seay House offers a unique window into the everyday life of rural, middle-class women in late 19th-century Spartanburg County.
Originally situated on the Seay family farm, the house was home to three unmarried sisters—Ruthy, Sarah, and Patsy Seay—who inherited the property from their father and continued to operate it well into their later years.
Their story highlights the labor-intensive lives of Southern farm women, their contributions to both domestic and agricultural work, and their modest yet stable economic independence, which included money lending and land management. As active members of Central Methodist Church, the sisters also reflect how women participated in and shaped their communities through religious and civic engagement. The Seay House today stands as a testament to their resilience and provides a tangible space to explore themes of women’s history, agrarian life, and post-Civil War Southern society.
Guided Tour: $3 per student
Guided Tour with Living History Activity: $5 per student
Adult chaperones, $5 each; School employees, FREE
Groups of 10 to 35 students per day
Picnic shelter on site
Requests should be submitted a minimum of two weeks, preferably 1 month in advance.